CES 2014: Auto World Changing Definition of Car, Driving

As of 2014, cars are becoming universally good. Some are better than others. Some are elite. Some are tiny, cheap and meant to be out of service sooner. Still, there are very few inveterate lemons left on the planet. Engines run. Fuel burns more efficiently. Drivers are held in relative safety. So, what are automotive designers and engineers supposed to spend their time doing? Evidently, they’re trying to change the world of motorized travel.

CES 2014 has that revolution on display as companies like Toyota, Ford, Audi and Mercedes-Benz holding huge spots on the convention floor to show the world more than just their cars, but how those cars will alter how we travel.

Toyota is blowing the CES doors off with multiple new concepts. They debuted their new Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car system. Cheap, clean burning hydrogen is the future of cars – in place of hybrids or plug-in electrics. The concept car looks a bit like a Prius, but that will hopefully evolve.

The hydrogen system is so advanced and powerful, Toyota wants it to also power your home – car and residence plugging into each other to share that hydrogen energy..

Toyota Motor Corp. released new details on its fuel cell car Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas – including plans for an adapter allowing the car to power your home. That technology is a couple years away, but it’ll be a reality sooner than many expected.

The fun, but controversial i-Road one-seater. It’s a technology packed, linked up vehicle that wants to change how humans commute or make shorter utility journeys.

The design is elegant, and it’s a wonderfully intuitive to drive. Still, the controversy grows out of its potential uses on American roads. It has a top speed somewhere around 30 mph, and it’s size doesn’t allow for many of the safety precautions a car offers. Can it work on American streets? Would the i-Road be relegated to off-street use like some scooters? We’ll see – because I’m sure Toyota is well aware of these questions.

Ford’s big display sits right next door to Toyota – with the a red 50th Anniversary Mustang dominating the area. Within a couple years, that Mustang and every other car Ford produces will include Ford’s V2V system – an onboard wifi network allowing cars to sense and talk to each other.

That modified wifi has a range of 250 meters and puts out an anonymous signal that merely IDs a car’s position, speed, course, etc. With the system widely applied across the automotive world, V2V looks to eliminate many collisions. It’s true that about 90% of crashes are driver error. The rest are mechanical errors. So, if cars can stop or evade safely and automatically, insurance companies will take a serious hit.

The V2V antennae sends out its signal 10 times per second, communicating with all other cars on the road. Since the system would be useless if only Fords were equipped. the Dearborn automaker is working with GM, Toyota, Honda, Acura, Nissan, Infiniti Nissan, Mercedes-Benz,, Audi/VW, and Hyundai/Kia. There’s word that Chrysler, Subaru, BMW and Mazda want in soon. Busses, trucks and motorcycles are also invited.

The same technology is transferable to traffic lights, congestion censors, cell phones and other on road technologies to further enhance driver and pedestrian safety.

Of course, early concerns in this age of surveillance include worries that government officials or corporate entities could track cars, tax usage or monitor speeds for remote tickets. Ford insists the technology is based on anonymous IDs to avoid these problems.

Ford looks to have regulations concluded on the technology in 2016, with deployment underway by 2018. Older vehicles would be able to buy a kit that to equip the tech.

While Ford works on V2V, Audi is busy looking to deal with traffic jams and parking issues – while helping to design the city of tomorrow.

While the German automaker is showing off car-friendly tablets and laser headlights, it’s the ongoing The Audi Urban Future Initiative that will make the most dramatic impact on the future. Rather than just redesign cars, Audi looks to influence city design to be more car friendly and less prone to traffic nightmares.

In Audi’s vision, their Traffic Jam Assist and Audi Connect will create a self driving car in congestion – allowing the driver to let the vehicle stay in the lane, brake, accelerate, etc. If implemented across automotive lines, the tech should reduce human error in high traffic and reduce driver fatigue.

Audi would also look to design parking systems that could go beyond mere self-parking vehicles to designing smart urban parking grids equipped with sensors that could talk to your vehicle and indicate where you can find a space from a distance.

Unfortunately, New York and San Franciso residents, parking in your cities will still suck no matter what the smartest men and women on Earth manage.

CES 2014: Day 2 at CES